This Week: May 13, 2011

Media Coverage

• What to look for in Social Security, Medicare forecasts [1]
  MSNBC.com, May 12, 2011
  In a preview of the 2011 Social Security and Medicare trustees' reports, Academy Social Insurance Committee Chairperson Janet Barr discussed the 2010 Social Security report's projection that the Disability Insurance trust fund would be exhausted by 2018.
• CBO: Change public pension accounting to fair-value method [2]
  aiCIO Magazine, May 8, 2011
  Academy Pension Accounting Committee Chairperson Steve Alpert discussed how public pension plan funding would be affected by a shift to a fair-value accounting approach.
• When benefits bite back [3]
  Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2011
  The Academy's Pension Assistance List [4] program was mentioned for providing free actuarial expertise to workers who need help checking pension calculations.

News Releases

• Media advisory: Actuaries Set to Discuss Financial Condition of Medicare and Social Security [5] (May 12, 2011)

Website: New Postings

• Academy President Mary Frances Miller announced in her May message [6] proposed changes to improve the U.S. actuarial profession's discipline process. The changes are intended to increase efficiency and create greater consistency among discipline outcomes.
• The Medicare Steering Committee released a new issue brief [7] that summarizes the key cost, access, and quality issues associated with some of the Medicare-related provisions in the various debt and deficit reduction proposals.
• The Pension Committee submitted comments [8] to the Actuarial Standards Board regarding a proposed revision of ASOP No. 27, Selection of Economic Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations.
• The Academy issued an RFP [9] for the administration of its employee retirement programs.
• In advance of a May 6-9, 2012, Mini-Congress titled The Actuarial Profession and Social and Economic Development, the International Actuarial Association (IAA) has issued a call for abstracts of proposed papers and presentations [10] on topics in the areas of pensions and social security, healthcare, insurance, or consulting practice.

Upcoming Events

• An Actuarial Perspective on the 2011 Social Security Trustees Report [11], May 26
• An Actuarial Perspective on the 2011 Medicare Trustees Report [12], May 27
• Join the Academy and the SOA on May 18 for the seminar [13], Preparing for Change under PBA: Life Company Reserves and Capital Seminar, to gain a more in-depth understanding of the specific implementation challenges related to the Principle-Based Approach (PBA) for statutory reserves and capital.
• The Academy will present two Capitol Hill briefings in May focusing on the 2011 annual reports issued by the Medicare and Social Security trustees. Each briefing will offer an actuarial perspective on the respective programs' financial projections and examine the outlook for long-term financial sustainability.
• Learn about the latest developments concerning regulatory capital requirements for U.S. P/C insurance enterprises in the May 31 webinar, P/C Risk-Based Capital: State and International Solvency Regulation [14]. Presenters will discuss the ongoing revision of P/C Risk-Based Capital (RBC) requirements, the NAIC Solvency Modernization Initiative (SMI), Solvency II, and International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) developments.

Recently Released Publications

• The May Actuarial Update [15] is available online. Read about major changes and additions to the Academy's nomination and election procedures. Other highlights include a look at how the Academy recognizes actuaries for their contributions to the profession and to the public good and a first-of-its-kind training session the Academy's Medicaid Work Group is providing for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Advertising

• See the Academy brand in action! [16] Online ads are in rotation on rollcall.com [17], cq.com [18], congress.org [19], and politicalwire.com [20] for the Academy's May 26 Capitol Hill briefing, An Actuarial Perspective on the 2011 Social Security Trustees Report [21].

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